Biologics: The Good, the Bad and the Future of Ear, Nose and Throat

Sensorineural hearing loss and chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps affect a large proportion of the UK population. However, treatment with high efficacy to manage these pathologies remains to be found. With the development of biologic drug treatments, there is hope that this will improve quality of life for patients affected by these conditions. A literature review was carried out using PubMed. Studies that investigated the use of biologic drug treatment in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and sensorineural hearing loss were included in this paper. Studies have demonstrated that cost is quite possibly the greatest limiting factor for the licencing of these novel drugs by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Biologics are currently approved in the management of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck for curative and palliative management. Although sensorineural hearing loss and chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps are not life-threatening conditions, they do have a great effect upon a patients’ quality of life. Current literature has identified several drug targets for biologics to be developed. Biologics, used off-licence, have been demonstrated to be effective in the management of the ear, nose and throat pathologies described. Although the off-licence use of biologics have been found to be beneficial, larger randomised control trials will be required to demonstrate the true efficacy of these drugs and allow for approval by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Cost will become less of a limiting factor as time progresses as biosimilars will be able to be produced once drug patents expire, thus making the market more competitive, driving prices down.